Hanging Rock power outage leaves residents without heating in snowy conditions

It's unknown yet when the power will come back on.

The snow damaged powerlines in the area at about 9pm on Thursday night, and Essential Energy crews are still working on the outage.

An Essential Energy spokesperson said a fault was detected on the high-voltage network which activated network protection equipment.

This meant the power was cut for 82 residents in the area.

"Local crews were dispatched immediately and discovered heavy snowfalls had caused significant damage to the overhead powerlines," the spokesperson said.

"Crews are continuing to work in challenging conditions with reports of snow still lying on the ground in a number of places and given the significant damage to the network and difficult ground conditions, Essential Energy is unable to provide an estimated restoration time."

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Essential Energy's operations manager, Northern Tablelands, Mark Summers, said powerlines were designed for the climatic conditions, however, a build-up of snow on the wires could result in sagging or breakage.

"When we experience these weather conditions, it's important the community exercise caution, as these extremely cold conditions can put downward pressure on powerlines," he said.

Nundle resident Kerrie Fearby told the Leader she was hosting some Hanging Rock locals during the outage to keep them warm.

Mr Summers reminded the public to stay at least eight metres away from damaged or fallen powerlines.

"Always treat powerlines as live and remember that anything in contact with them, such as cars, trees or fences, can conduct electricity and pose a danger," Mr Summers said.

"We encourage residents to immediately report fallen powerlines, network damage, fires or trees contacting powerlines to Essential Energy on 13 20 80 or call Triple-0 if the situation is life threatening.

"Essential Energy apologises for any inconvenience caused by the power outage and thanks the community for their patience."

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